Meihua Su

Background: This study aims to examine the prospective associations between college students’ baseline psychological symptoms and their subsequent physical fitness outcomes to provide a scientific basis and practical reference for the formulation of mental health education in colleges and universities and strategies for promoting their physical fitness. Methods: This retrospective cohort study with longitudinal physical fitness follow-up selected 6,491 undergraduate graduates from six consecutive admission cohorts (2019–2024) at a comprehensive university as the research subjects. The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) was used to assess their psychological symptoms, and their physical fitness test scores were incorporated into the analysis. Correlation analysis, group comparisons, and linear mixed-effects models were employed to examine the associations between psychological symptoms and physical fitness test results. Results: There were significant differences in the scores of obsessive-compulsive, depressive, anxious, and phobic factors on the SCL-90 between male and female college students, with female students scoring higher than male students, although all differences were small in magnitude (Cohen’s d < 0.25). Students with higher first-year physical fitness test scores tended to have lower SCL-90 factor scores than those in the lower-score group did, but the differences were very small (ε² ≤ 0.001) and only paranoid ideation and additional items remained significant after Bonferroni correction. Weak negative correlations were observed between most psychological symptom factors and both physical fitness outcomes. After Bonferroni correction, six of the ten SCL-90 factors remained significantly negatively correlated with the comprehensive physical fitness GPA. Linear mixed-effects models showed that physical fitness test scores declined significantly across the four academic years (B = -0.888 per year, P < 0.001), whereas baseline psychological symptom severity was not significantly associated with either the level or the rate of change of fitness scores. Conclusions: Baseline psychological symptoms showed weak and largely non-significant prospective associations with subsequent physical fitness outcomes; cross-sectional associations were more evident for the comprehensive physical fitness GPA than for first-year fitness scores, and baseline symptom severity was not significantly associated with the four-year fitness trajectory.

Objective: To examine the associations between physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness and vascular function in adults aged 50–60 years, and to investigate the moderating role of cardiorespiratory fitness in the relationship between physical activity and vascular function. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 155 non-manual workers aged 50–60 years. Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form (IPAQ-SF). Cardiorespiratory fitness and vascular function were evaluated using established physiological indicators. Results: Physical activity was significantly associated with both cardiorespiratory fitness and vascular function, with evident sex differences. In men, cardiorespiratory fitness increased progressively with higher physical activity levels, whereas in women, significant improvements were observed only at high physical activity levels. Vascular elasticity appeared to be more responsive to physical activity in women. Cardiorespiratory fitness significantly moderated the association between physical activity and vascular function, with a stronger moderating effect observed in men. The beneficial effect of physical activity on vascular function was most pronounced among individuals with lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness. Conclusion: Among adults aged 50–60 years, physical activity is positively associated with cardiorespiratory fitness and vascular function and exerts beneficial effects on vascular health, with notable sex differences. Furthermore, cardiorespiratory fitness moderates the relationship between physical activity and vascular function, suggesting that the vascular benefits of physical activity vary according to sex and individual fitness levels.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the impact of varying physical activity (PA) intensities on heart rate variability (HRV), to explore the relationships among cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), body composition, and HRV, and to further characterize sex-specific HRV patterns in overweight and obese college students. Methods: A total of 184 overweight or obese college students were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Participants were categorized into low, medium, or high intensity PA groups using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form (IPAQ-SF). Body fat percentage and muscle mass were assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis, while CRF was estimated from maximal oxygen uptake (VO ₂ max) derived from a cycle ergometer test. Resting HRV indices were obtained under standardized conditions. Differences in body composition, CRF, and HRV were analyzed across groups. Multiple linear regression models were further employed to identify independent predictors of HRV. Results: High-intensity PA independently predicted log(standard deviation of normal RR intervals (SDNN)) (b = 0.40, 95% CI [0.12–0.67], P = 0.005) and log(root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD)) (b = 0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.13–0.83], P = 0.007), while medium-intensity PA also showed a significant effect on log(SDNN) (b = 0.22, 95% CI [0.04–0.39], P = 0.014). Female participants exhibited higher log(high-frequency component (HFn)) (b = 0.25, 95% CI [0.11–0.39], P < 0.001) and lower log(low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF)) (b = −0.39, 95% CI [−0.62 to −0.17], P < 0.001) compared with males. VO ₂ max was not significantly associated with most HRV indices, remaining significant only for log(SDNN) (b = 0.46, 95% CI [0.02–0.90], P = 0.042). Conclusions: Medium-to-high intensity PA independently predicted favorable HRV indices. Female students demonstrated higher HRV levels than males, suggesting sex specific. The association between PA and autonomic regulation appeared stronger than that between VO ₂ max and HRV.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on the mood, autonomic nervous system function, and frontal lobe alpha band lateralization of depressed university students, providing evidence-based references for exercise interventions in depression. Methods: 34 university students with mild to moderate depression were enrolled and randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either an exercise group or a control group. The exercise group undertook aerobic exercise three times weekly for 60 minutes per session over an 8-week period, while the control group maintained their usual lifestyle. Questionnaire assessments, interviews, resting electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements were employed to evaluate therapeutic differences between the two groups before and after intervention. Results: Following the 8-week intervention, the exercise group exhibited significantly reduced BDI-II scores (decrease of 11.65, Ps = -0.684, P = 0.002), suggesting a potential synchronous mechanism underpinning both improvements. Conclusion: Improvements in autonomic nervous function and frontal lobe EEG metrics indicate that long-term, regular aerobic exercise can alleviate depressive mood in university students, enhance frontal lobe brain function, and balance sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity. This holds promise as an effective method for alleviating depression. This study provides preliminary evidence supporting structured exercise programs as a campus-based supplementary intervention for depression among university students.

Adolescent physical activity (PA) is essential for mental health. However, the declining PA levels amongst this group pose global challenges. This study examines the relationship between PA and mental health amongst 1668 Chinese high school students, focusing on gender and grade-level differences. Only 30.9% of students met the recommended 60 min of daily moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), with boys showing a significantly higher compliance rate than girls (44.2% vs. 25.2%, P < 0.001). MVPA compliance was linked to better mental health, as compliant students had a lower mental health detection rate (43.6%) compared with non-compliant peers (56.4%, P < 0.001). The grade 11 students were at the highest risk of mental health issues (OR = 2.421, 95% CI: 1.893–3.096 and P < 0.001), whilst being female (OR = 0.630, 95% CI: 0.502–0.791 and P < 0.001). Meanwhile, MVPA non-compliance (OR = 0.792, 95% CI: 0.736–0.851 and P = 0.008) were additional risk factors. Poorer mental health correlated with reduced time in vigorous PA and increased time in low-intensity activities (P = 0.001). These findings highlight the low PA levels and significant mental health risks amongst adolescents, particularly girls and grade 11 students. Targeted interventions promoting PA, time management and mental health support are critical.

Background: Mental health has been found to be associated with risk of osteoarthritis (OA), but the causal relationship was not fully clarified.Methods: Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was conducted to investigate the causal relationship between neuroticism (n = 329,821) and the two most frequently affected parts of osteoarthritis (OA) (knee OA: case/control =24,955/378,169; hip OA: case/control = 15,704/378,169) using large scale summary genome-wide association study (GWAS) data. Inverse variance weighted (IVW), weighted median, and MR-Egger were used to estimate the causal effects. Multiple sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the robustness of the causal estimates. Multivariable MR analysis was used to estimate the direct effects of neuroticism on OA after accounting for the other OA risk factors. Two-step MR approach was employed to explore the potential mediators of the causal relationship.Results: Univariable MR analysis indicated that 1-SD increase in genetically predicted neuroticism score was associated with an increased risk of knee OA (IVW: OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.087–1.26; p = 2.72E−05) but not with hip OA. The causal effects remained significant after accounting for the effects of BMI, alcohol drinking, and vigorous physical activity but were attenuated with adjustment of smoking. Further mediation analysis revealed that smoking initiation mediated a significant proportion of the causal effects of neuroticism on knee OA (proportion of mediation effects in total effects: 22.3%; 95% CI, 5.9%–38.6%; p = 7.60E−03).Conclusions: Neuroticism has significant causal effects on knee OA risk. Smoking might partly mediate the causal relationship. Further studies were warranted to explore the underlying mechanisms and potential use of neuroticism management for OA treatment.

Objective: Sweat is an important specimen of human metabolism, which can simply and non-invasively monitor the metabolic state of the body, and its metabolites can be used as biomarkers for disease diagnosis, while the changes of sweat metabolites before and after exercise-induced fatigue are still unclear.Methods: In this experiment, high-performance chemical isotope labeling liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used to metabolomic 28 sweat samples before and after exercise-induced fatigue of 14 long-distance runners, also IsoMS PRO and SPSS22.0 software were used to analyze the metabolite changes and differential metabolic pathways.Results: A total of 446 metabolites with high confidence were identified, and the sweat metabolome group before and after high-intensity interval exercise-induced fatigue was obvious, among which the upregulated differential metabolites mainly included hypoxanthine, pyruvate, several amino acids, etc., while the downregulated differential metabolites mainly included amino acid derivatives, vitamin B6, theophylline, etc.Conclusion: The change of hypoxanthine concentration in sweat can be used as a good biomarker for the diagnosis of exercise-induced fatigue, while the change of pyruvate content in sweat can be used as a discriminant index for the energy metabolism mode of the body before and after exercise. The main metabolic pathways involved in differential metabolites produced before and after HIIT exercise-induced fatigue are purine metabolism and amino acid metabolism.

Purposes: In this paper, we used Meta-analysis to study the effect of NHE on hamstrings and to find the scientific evaluation index of NHE effect. Method: In this paper, we systematically searched all data since the establishment of the database through PubMed, Embase, Web of science, and Cochrane Library databases, with PubMed search formula (((Nordic) OR (Russian)) OR (NHE)) AND (((((((Hamstring) OR (Hamstring Muscle)) OR (Muscle, Hamstring)) OR (Muscles, Hamstring)) OR (Biceps Femoris)) OR (Semimembranosus)) OR (Semitendinosus)).The search field was full text and the search date of April 7, 2022. The quality evaluation, Meta-analysis, sensitivity analysis and publication bias analysis of the included literature were performed using Review manager 5.4 software. Results: A total of 950 studies were retrieved for this study, and after strict inclusion and exclusion, a total of 11 studies were included, with 497 subjects, including 282 in the test group and 215 in the control group, and the overall quality of the literature was high. NHE can be used as an effective intervention method, which can significantly improve the eccentric hamstring strength peak(MD=46.16, 95% Cl: 28.70-63.63, P=0.00001<0.01) and the eccentric peak torque of the hamstrings (MD=10.87，95%CI：3.86-17.89，P=0.002<0.01) and the eccentric peak torque of the hamstrings muscles to body weight (MD=0.17, 95% CI: 0.01-0.33, P=0.04<0.05), increase BFLH fascicle length (MD=0.62, 95% CL: 0.11-1.12，P=0.02<0.05),improve H:Q functional ratio(MD=0.07,95%CI: 0.02-0.13, P=0.01<0.05),and decrease the hamstrings eccentric angle of peak torque（APT） (MD=2.53, 95% CI: 4.63-0.43, P=0.02<0.05).